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SAMISH WAY URBAN VILLAGE SUBAREA PLAN

4. CIRCULATION, STREETSCAPE AND PUBLIC PARKINGStreet right-of-way accounts for approximately 34 of the 78 total acres of the project area (~43%). Samish Way defines the character for most people traveling through in their cars. Wide traffic lanes, narrow unprotected side-walks, businesses separated from the street by parking lots, and a lack of vegetation creates a threatening environment for people, and dis-courages pedestrian activity.

Most bicyclists choose to ride on the sidewalk, which exists only on Samish Way and parts of Byron Avenue. These sidewalks are interrupted by numerous driveway curb-cuts, creating the potential for collision with vehicles attempting to enter the roadway.

Some streets dead-end or have 1 way access, and lack of streets in other areas results in large “superblocks” with no through pedestrian or vehicular access for over 900 feet in some cases.

In contrast, 34th Street has a pleasant rural environment despite it’s proximity to Samish Way and Bill McDonald Parkway. Pedestrians appear comfortable walking down the street, surrounded by well-established vegetation. However, there are limited connections to the Sehome Hill Arboretum or into the commercial area, and no sidewalks exist.

As Samish Way redevelops, adequate parking must be provided in a way that does not de-tract from the intended pedestrian-oriented streetscape. Shared parking facilities should be encouraged and on-street parking added wher-ever possible to support the commercial activity in the area and to protect adjacent residential neighborhoods.

4.1 CIRCULATION, STREETSCAPE AND PARKING POLICIES

Circulation Policies

• Enhance the street grid and eliminate “superblocks” by extending 35th Street and 37th Street between Consolidation Avenue and Abbott Street. Right-of-way should be dedicated upon property redevelopment for this purpose.

• Add a new east-west mid-block pedestrian connection between Abbott Street and Consolidation Avenue to connect 34th Street to the Commercial areas as shown on the right-of-way and pedestrian connection map on page 23.

• Support street vacations when exchanged for newly dedicated right-of-way.

Bicylists riding on Samish Way sidewalk

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• Consolidate driveways along Samish Way to increase automobile, bicycle, and pedestrian safety.

• Reduce the posted speed limit along Samish Way to a maximum of 25 miles per hour as redevelopment occurs and automobile traffic increases to make the street more com-fortable for bikes/pedestrians and increase the visibility of businesses to passerby.

• Add traffic signals or roundabouts to Samish Way intersections to manage traffic flow and create safe pedestrian crossings.

• Highlight pedestrian crossings with bulb-out sidewalks, use of different surface materials and markings, and use of the landscape median as a mid-street pedestrian refuge.

• Add a new traffic signal to the intersection of 35th Street and Bill McDonald Parkway prior to 35th Street being opened to traffic.

• Provide a double left turn lane at Bill Mc-Donald Parkway to allow for adequate storage space for vehicles preparing to turn northbound onto Samish Way.

• Add new multi-use public trail connections to the Sehome Hill Arboretum at Allen Av-enue and Newell Street, as identified in the Sehome Arboretum Master Plan.

• Establish a wayfinding system to guide people to and from the Sehome Hill Arbore-tum, WWU, Lake Padden and downtown.

• Supply curb cuts through the traffic divert-ers at Grant and Humboldt Streets to allow bikes and wheelchair access between the Samish Way Urban Village, Franklin Park, and the York Neighborhood.

• Explore the feasibility for a bike and pedes-trian overpass across Interstate 5 near E. Maple and Abbott Streets to connect the Samish Way Urban Village to the Western Washington University/Whatcom Transpor-tation Authority Park and Ride and devel-oped neighborhoods east of I-5.

• As traffic increases, implement traffic man-agement techniques as needed (based on established Public Works’ adopted criteria) to regulate traffic flow through established neighborhoods.

• Prohibit vehicular access from 34th Street to the commercially-zoned areas of the urban village.

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SAMISH WAY URBAN VILLAGE SUBAREA PLAN

Looking North on new 35th Street towards Abbott

Transit Policies

• Provide covered bus shelters and other amenities at bus stops and orient devel-opment towards transit stops to create a comfortable and interesting environment for pedestrians and transit riders and promote transit use.

• Expand high-frequency (“GO Line”) transit service as redevelopment occurs and as new residential density creates a ridership base to connect the Samish Way corridor to WWU and downtown.

• Relocate the westbound transit stop at Bill McDonald Parkway to the City right-of-way at Byron and 35th Street (across the street from the eastbound transit stop) to facilitate a safer pedestrian crossing to the Sehome Village retail service area and provide a pleasant environment for transit riders.

• Accommodate either 2 buses or a double bus at new bus pull-outs to support an eventual increase in transit service.

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Artist rendering of 35th street

• Consolidate transit stops and fire hydrants into one location to maximize on-street parking.

• Encourage developers to work with WTA to provide annual bus passes to resi-dents and/or employees in exchange for development incentives such as reduced parking requirements or transportation impact fees.

Streetscape Policies

• Add a landscape median with left-turn pockets at major intersections and consolidated driveways, and include street trees and landscaping along Samish Way.

• Maximize sidewalk width for pedestrian safety and comfort.

• Add street furniture, public art, and pedes-trian-scale lighting to streets within the Core to create a sense of place and define the center of the village.

• Provide stormwater treatment in public landscape beds wherever possible.

• Construct a continuous 14-foot wide “sharrow” lane to accommodate bicycles along each outside travel lane of Samish Way. Each sharrow should be marked with a bicycle symbol to clearly identify that it is a shared lane for both bicyclists and motorists.

• Narrow the drive lanes on residential and commercial shopping streets to slow traffic and allow wider sidewalks.

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Example of a sharrow

Courtesy of Whatcom Transit Authoriy

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• Design streets bordering the existing single-family neighborhoods to reflect the adjacent residential character and provide a buffer from the urban village.ost woo

Public Parking Policies

• Consider expanding the Residential Park-ing Zone (RPZ) if needed to limit parking encroachment into adjacent single-family neighborhoods as density occurs.

• Add on-street parking to the Commercial Core of Samish Way and all side streets where possible.

4.2 IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES

• Create a Maintenance District for the pub-lic spaces, landscaping and other public amenities within the Subarea.

• Explore adding metered parking stalls to the Core and creating a Parking Benefit District to direct meter revenues into local beautifi-cation and maintenance.

• Work with property and business owners to adopt an access management ordinance consolidating driveway curb-cuts at a minimum spacing of 200 feet.

• Establish a Local Improvement District (LID) to organize the propor-tional fair share cost of improvements and ameni-ties in the area.

• Require new develop-ment to construct adjacent streets to the standards recommended in this Subarea Plan, except for

Samish Way and identified “special streets”.

• Prohibit private vehicular access from 34th Street to the commercially-zoned areas of the urban village.

• Explore grants and other financing tools to help implement the proposed street designs for Samish Way, 34th Street and Ab-bott Street.

• Acquire right-of-way where needed to create a more compact street grid.

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60'

80'

80'

80'

40'

60'

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60'

60'

60'

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60' 30'

60'80'80'

80'

Bike/Ped/Alley AccessLocation& DesignTBD

ALLEN AVE

60'

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ABBOTT ST

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BYRON

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CONSOLIDATION AVE

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PASCO S

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BILL MCDONALD PKWY

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0 300150

Feet

Samish WayUrban Village

Proposed Right of Way& Pedestrian Connections

(Public Easement)

Key:Built StreetsPossible VacationExisting ROWExisting AlleyProposed ROWBike / Ped. Connection

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BYRON AVE

BILL MCDONALD PKWY

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5CONSOLIDATION AVE

ABBOTT ST

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Samish WayUrban Village

Proposed Street Types

Street TypesType IA

Type IB

Type IC

Type II

Type III

Specialty Streets

Bike & Ped Connectors

Alley

To Be Determined

0 300150

Feet

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Samish Way Urban Village Street Design

Type I: Arterial. The cross sections below represent a guide for setting street standards for Samish Way, the main arterial serving the area. Flexibility to these designs should be considered if they result in enhancements to bike and pedestrian systems. It is acknowledged that at the time of adoption of this Subarea plan, the City does not recognize “sharrows” as a transportation component of the City’s street infrastructure and additional review will be necessary prior to street improvements. The Type I designs are divided into A, B, and C, based on the variation in anticipated land use and the change in right-of-way width from 100 feet to 80 feet north of the Abbott Street intersection. Recommended improvements to the inter-section at Bill McDonald Parkway, another arterial which serves as the southern boundary of the project area, should be analyzed in detail.

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Type II: Local (non-arterial) Streets. These streets should maximize sidewalk width and on street parking. Drive lanes should be reduced to 10-feet to slow traffic. This cross section should be used as a guide to setting street standards in the area.

Type III: Residential boundary streets (not shown). These streets abut existing single-family zones and should be improved to the City’s ¾ standard, with parking and sidewalks added to the project side.

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Special Streets: 34th Street and Abbott are designated as “special streets” with a unique design character to compliment their location and function. These are primary travel routes for bikes and pedestrians and intended to be a draw to the neighborhood.

Special Street: 34th Street 34th Street should be maintained by promoting a “street edge alternative” design with ample landscaping, at grade sidewalks and narrow drive lanes. Addition of a sidewalk should be limited to the east side of 34th where new development and higher density is expected. It should be set back from the street edge and allowed to me-ander to further accentuate the more leisurely character of 34th Street.

Pocket parking and stormwater landscaping dimensions may vary depending on the localized conditions such as topography, desire to preserve existing vegetation and whether property owners desire on-street parking. Example of the design character proposed for 34th St

Special Street: Abbott StreetAbbott Street is an existing 40-foot wide right-of-way located in the core of the Subarea. This street connects people from the commercial areas up into the residential neighborhood and Sehome Hill Arboretum. To create a sense of place and community, a portion of this street should be redevel-oped into a woonerf. There are five components found in most woonerfs:

1) Create distinct gatways that announce, celebrate, and enhance the neighborhood’s identity; this signifies to drivers that they are guests in the neighborhood.

2) Add curves to the travel lane to deliberately break up the driver’s sight line.

3) Use features that serve a dual purpose of slowing traffic while providing amenities for residents to create a more pedestrian friendly environment. Examples of such features would be benches, bollards, play equip-ment, and plantings.

4) To discourage drivers from speeding, a shared street should eliminate continuous curbs. This creates a situation where drivers and pedestrians are placed on the same level, and drivers are directed by bollards, street furniture, trees, and varied pavement treatment.

5) Finally, it is crucial to provide parking but with intermittent spacing so that the street does not begin to feel like a parking lot. The cumulative effect of these measures is a greater sense of comfort in hope that pedestrians will use the street space. (Colin Hand, 2007)

Example of a woonerf

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SAMISH WAY URBAN VILLAGE SUBAREA PLAN

Artist rendering of Abbott Street

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